Mosaic the Walls, Cinderelli!

A corridor of the aptly named Cinderella Castle in Disney World is adorned with these picturesque mosaics. If there are two things I love, they are mosaics and a great story. I just had to share these pictures with you as I never really wrote about my trip to Disney. This was definitely one of the highlights for me.

Designed by Imagineer Dorothea Redmond, this mosaic mural took 22 months to complete and a team of 6 artists to execute. It is comprised of over 300,000 pieces of italian glass in over 500 assorted colours.

A Day at the Faire

Two weekends ago, my friend Makayla attended the Minnesota Renaissance Festival with me. The theme was the Highland Fling so we were in for a treat as the Caber Toss & Stone Throw as well as the Kilt competition were held that weekend.  I really enjoyed watching the Scottish dancers and was thankful to be able to sit in the shade for their performance.  We both had a bread bowl of chicken wild rice soup under a grapevine trellis and watched jousting and various entertainers (including one rather crude poet. I think that's the opinion that he was aiming for ).  I finally found a square parasol and felt so prim and proper to be walking around with it.  The only set back of the entire day was that it was so hot.  The ice cream cones melted into a puddle almost immediately and the 98 degree weather felt far from what I would imagine the climate to be in Scotland.  Overall I think we had an enjoyable time and I will be looking forward to another visit next year. It runs until the first weekend of October. http://renaissancefest.com/MRF/

Love this font! Snazzy!

 Check out Friar Tuck chillin' in the background!

 I love this picture. It's an homage to Outlander.

 For some reason I've always known that someday I will live in a house with beveled glass windows like this.

 Mosaics! Yes!

This little guy was a familiar face from last year.

  

"Walking on Broken Glass"

I am immensely intrigued by mosiacs. Ever since I set foot on the black and white patterned streets of Rio, I have been quite fond of the art form. I have purchased books on mosaics and have plenty of grout and tesserae (mostly broken mugs & saucers), but I have never tackled the feat of creating something so intricate and beautiful as what adorns the check-out lines at the Whole Foods Co-Op. (I am unable to provide the name of the artist at this time). I marvel at these creations everytime I see them.

Whole Foods Co-Op: Aisle 1

Whole Foods Co-Op: Aisle 2

Last Sunday, I attended the Glensheen Festival of Fine Arts & Crafts and met a woman named Val. She was able to give me some pointers and recommended an adhesive. She was totally inspiring. After much deliberation, I selected to purchase this lovely candle votive from her mainly because it matched my books. You can check out her etsy site here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/valnorthwoods

She had a platter of her grandmother's that was missing a handle so she designed a mosaic at the base of it and turned it into a vanity mirror. It was stunning. I think it's still available on her site.

The rest of these are from a little park in Nashville, TN. Fannie Dee Maes Park contains one gigantic mosaic dragon. It's incredible. If you planning to be in Nashville, you need to add this to your list of excursions.

I hope to show you a mosaic project or two very soon. I hope you have a lovely day and are able to salvage something that's been broken. Thanks for reading.

Love, Jana